Learning to learn

If you have landed on this blog, chances are you like being self-taught. There is no formal course here. What I have been doing is to contextualize non-graded teaching material, or authentic resources to put them in the path of the English language learner at B2 level and beyond. As a rule, I only select materials that are not beyond a pay wall.

Books on a window sill by Acabashi on Wikimedia Commons

How to use all this? How to browse and get to the websites that can help you learn?

Well, I am afraid that is a skill in itself. Sifting, choosing can take a long time. Often the same limited time you have to learn. 

The process of organising your own learning is a crucial one. You need to face the overwhelming challenging feeling that often gets you and drives you to a halt. You need to assign time to choosing what to read, what kind of practice to do and then also assign time to simple get down to it. See it through.

Some tips:

1. Define what you want to achieve. Is it understanding how a structure works? Is it improving vocabulary? Collect only sites about those and discard the rest. Be ruthless. No interestingness or fancy website distraction. You need it to help you learn, not entertain you.

2. Start with short practice sessions. Choose something simple. Do not worry if you are not making a huge learning curve. You are learning to learn. 

3. Get the habit of practice. Same place. Same time. Show up daily, if possible. If you want to acquire a habit -you do need this step believe me- daily does it. Choose a realistic time slot in your busy day.

4. Anticipate distractions. When you study, what makes you wonder around the house, check your phone messages or open yet another tab in your browser? Know yourself. Prepare ahead of the study session. Clear space, clear mind.

5. Practice more time than the time browsing websites. The “new one” or “yet another tutorial on youtube” can give you a kick, but passive consumption will give you no progress. Practice makes perfect!

Do not give up. When facing frustration, stop and reflect on what is going on. Do not travel the easy route of thinking you are not good at languages. Try to get some positive feedback. Go back to starting with small bites of learning and then speed up again.

One last thing.

Yes, sometimes a good teacher to guide you is still necessary. 

Labyrinth at Wikimedia Commons

B2 First (FCE) and B2 First for Schools (FCEfS)

 

As there are two versions of the B2 First exam, you might have some questions. For example:

What is the difference between the two exam versions?

The context of the reading topics. You are examined for the same level in both versions: B2 of the Common European Framework.

Is First for Schools easer than B2 First?

In a nutshell, no.

Can I choose which version I will do?

If you are under 18 years old and you are still attending school, choosing First for Schools is advisable. You will work with contexts designed for people your age. 

If you are 18+, you will have to do B2 First.

Where can I read more about the B2 First versions?

Check out the Cambridge website with preparation materials for both exams:

B2 FistB2 Fist

B2 First for Schools

Cambridge First Oral Exam Part 1: Breaking the Ice

 

The key to success in this part is to just be yourself. Of course, you are already being examined: your fluency, pronunciation, grammar, etc. But you should not force things. This is a moment to tune into the exam. To focus.

Examiners have a set of questions to choose from for this part. They refer to you and your everyday life. As much as extended responses are required in the exam, this is not the moment to flaunt your ability to extend and go on and on. Short answers are expected. If you are not really interested in the topic, a brief and polite answer will do. Let the examiner conduct the conversation.

What can they ask you about?

Here is a beautiful list for you to practise the usual questions of Part 1:

91 FCE Speaking Test Part 1 Questions

Remember: do not memorise answers. Just practise them.

Possible topics in this part:

• Where you live
• Daily life
• Education and work
• Travel and holidays
• The media. Hoy you get informed
• Family and friends
• Entertainment
• Sports
• Free time

Here are a couple of examples of Part 1.

Source: a clipping extracted from the official Cambridge Channel

Now it's your turn.

1. Set your mobile count down timer to 1 minute.
2. Choose some questions from the website above 
3. Record yourself.

Yes, record your minute. 

Seeing the timer run plus knowing you are being recorded may recreate exam "nerves" conditions. You will know what kind of mistakes you make under a little pressure.

Priceless information! 

B2 First Exam Results

Mid-January is the time my students get to know their Cambridge First results. In Argentina most people do the exam in December.

Statement of Results

This is a pdf page with detailed information about how you performed in each section of the test.

Here is an example:

Image source

Your Statement of Results is not your Certificate, which usually arrives in paper form a few weeks later. Why does it matter, then? Because as a student, it's important to know your learner profile. I find it very useful to guide my students in to future studies of the language. Don't forget it is called "First". In my opinion, this is just the start of your learning path in English.

There you will read your Cambridge score and how it translates into the Common European Framework of Reference.

How do you access your Stement of Results online?

You will need log in details which are provided when you enrolled. If you are doing First for Schools, your institute should provide you with all the necessary information.

The pdf will not be online forever, so do make sure you download it. 

So, how did it go?

CEFR Levels and the European Day of Languages

 

Picture source: culturebridges.eu

September 26th, The European Day of Languages, is a day I like to celebrate. As an aspiring polyglot, I've always felt identified with the idea of this day, even if I do not live in Europe.

Browsing the website that marks the celebration, I've found this excellent video to explain the Common European Framework for Reference -CEFR- to explain what knowledge level of a foreign language implies and entails. 

What is a language knowledge level? 

How long does it take to be an A1 or a B2 in a foreign language?

Picture source: Cambridgeenglish.org

Questions like these are posed to us, teachers of English as a foreign language, every year. The difference between the concept of a level and the reality of a level are slippery things to explain.

Languages are expressions of culture. Knowledge implies so much. They are so much more of a bridge across cultures than a box with a label or a piece of paper with a certificate. 

I kept nodding as I listened to Peter Brown on this video. Hope you enjoy it too.

You can count on it!

Every now and then, the question about the number of words in your essays pops up. Cambridge First (as well as the CAE and CPE tests) rubrics include an approximate number of words you must write. 

Foto de Mikhail Nilov en Pexels

A colleague from Poland, Simon Jones, has a couple of interesting posts about this topic in his C1 blog. In Do I need to count my words? Simon says;

1. Before the exam, look at some old written work.
2. Count the number of words in the first three or four lines and calculate the average number of words in one line. It’s usually around ten but depends on the size of your handwriting.
3. Remember this number. Then, in an exam, you can multiply it by the number of lines you write.

I definitely agree with Simon's advice. You should not lose time on the word count. There are far more important uses of your limited exam time. As a general rule, I would say that if you write what you are asked, with proper expansion, without going off-track with your ideas, you need the number of words proposed in the rubrics to do your task well. 

So stay on topic. Remember you are communicating through writing, not just trying to write and reach number of words.

Parts of Speech: What's in a verb?

 

Let's begin by clarifying the basics. Parts of speech are generally taken for granted in our advanced courses, yet some details need reviewing by focusing on small differences.

The parts of speech in a sentence are usually identified by structure, the right order is important. A simple question such as: What do you do? gets two different verbs with distinct functions, although they are spelled the same, but the position in the sentence will distinguish the auxiliary from the main verb.

You can put parts of speech to the test in order to identify them. Here is an image prepared by Mrs Gilbert for her class:

Now, taking a closer look at the verbs, we usually forget to distinguish a transitive from an intransitive verb. A distinction that will be very useful to master the different forms phrasal verbs can take.

Here is a video from the Cambridge Latin Course which takes a very interesting approach to explain the basics when it comes to parts of speech. Do you have 7 minutes? Watch this.

Now that you can tell the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs, you might as well explore this website for a more extensive collection of examples. There in the Woodward English website, you will see a video to explain how these concepts relate to phrasal verbs, which they summarize in the following graph:

 

All right. This is a lot to take in at one single post!

Granted. 

Remember the time to learn these grammar distinctions will take you a long way in your future studies of the English language.